Fundamental analysis is a method of forecasting the future price movements of a financial instrument where fundamental traders basically trade the news.
News Trading has the potential to be a profitable way to trade the Forex market. It must be noted, however, that a high level of risk is involved. Fundamental Traders analyze key economic data, including news and government reports, to evaluate trading opportunities.

From the fundamentalists’ perspective, currency exchange rates are affected primarily by economic and political conditions, and occasionally by central banks intervening in the currency markets in an attempt to influence the value of their currencies. Some of the key figures tracked by fundamentalists include interest rates, inflation, trade balance, GDP (Gross Domestic Product), CPI (Consumer Price Index), PPI (Producer Price Index), capacity utilization, factory orders, durable goods orders, inventories, and employment statistics. Fundamentalists are also constantly evaluating the potential impact of military conflicts, natural disasters, and changes in political leadership.

There is a whole art and science to Fundamental trading, or more commonly known as news trading. There are regular news events that get released on a regular basis like weekly, monthly, every 6 weeks (FOMC - Fed Interest rates). These are market moving events. Good news for one currency could be bad news for another. Many times the market already has an expectation, whether it is right or wrong, and for the most part has already been priced into the market. When an unexpected number comes out, that’s when the currencies can go wild, and if you’re on the right side of the trade you will make money.

News trading is not black and white. A good number for the USD does not mean the USD will increase in value. It could do the opposite. So keep this in mind if you decide to be a fundamental trader vs. a technical trader. Fundamental traders have to keep up with the news on a continuous basis and they need to understand what those numbers mean. I can’t teach you everything there is to know about fundamental trading, but there are services out there that can help you learn.